


Honors

by Akira_Jikan



Series: Keith Month 2018 [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Antok, Mentions of Fallen Blade Members, Mentions of Regris - Freeform, Mentions of Thace, Mentions of Ulaz, Prompt 13: "It was an Honor to Meet you", Prompt 16: Flowers, mentions of Keith's father
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 19:39:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16456052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akira_Jikan/pseuds/Akira_Jikan
Summary: Keith finally has free time from the preparations of war. He decides to visit his father's grave by himself to honor him and the fallen Blades.





	Honors

**Author's Note:**

> I combined Prompt 13: "It was an honor to meet you" and Prompt 16: Flowers  
> Follow me on Tumblr: [AsianMC-AJ](https://asianmc-aj.tumblr.com/)  
> Beta-ed by Silvamoon

Keith stands in front of his dad’s grave, finally having some time to himself. Krolia was with Kolivan speaking to the few Blades they found. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance were spending time with their families, while Shiro, Allura, and Coran were relaxing from all of the Coalition meetings.

 

While it was nice returning back to Earth and having some time for everyone to relax, Keith struggled with all of the interactions. He didn’t have a lot of happy memories here like the others and it just increases his feelings of being out of place on this planet.

 

He didn’t come here to wallow in loneliness, he came here to spend time with his dad. Sighing to himself, the black paladin sits on his legs in front of his dad’s grave, being careful of the two bouquets of flowers in his arms.

 

Placing one of the bouquets on his dad’s grave, he muses to himself, “You know, I’ve always wondered why you would buy these once a week. When I went to pick them up for you, I finally asked the florist today.”

 

His right-hand reaches for the flower closest to him, gently rubbing the petal. “Fuschia, a flower meaning confiding love. It sort of matches mom’s hair.”

  
He moves his hand to a different flower with similar colors, “Ipomoea, I belong to thee. Even after she left, your heart still belonged to her, huh?”

 

“Lotus, estranged love and mystery,” Keith stated, as he gazes at the water lily curiously. He’s surprised they even sell this kind of flower.

 

He finally looks at the last flower in the middle, a red rose. “Because of your love to each other, I was born.”

 

Keith’s eyes began to grow misty, remembering his dad coming home with the bouquet and placing it beside the window. “ When mom and I came here together after my recovery, she told me how you would give her bouquets every day, but she didn't recognize some of the flowers you added.”

 

It was silent for a while, as he reminisces his childhood with his dad. A small smile on his face as a soft laugh broke out from him. A few minutes later, after calming down he looks at his dad’s gravestone. “I don’t know why you never told me about Krolia or about the Blades of Marmora if you knew about them. But, the reasons don’t matter now. I’m proud of who I am, dad. My human side and my Galra side.”

 

He places the other bouquet of flowers next to his dad’s, carefully arranging them so that they don’t fall on the ground. 

 

“I brought this bouquet for the fallen Blades. I wanted to Honor their memory as well. I hope you don’t mind sharing, dad,” Keith teases, as he rests his hands on his lap. 

 

It took him a while to get the bouquet for the Blades since he personally wanted to create one for them. Whenever he was free, he was working with the florist on the flowers meaning until they found the perfect arrangement.

 

“The first flower I chose was purple heathers because they mean admiration and solitude,” Keith began, having memorized each flower’s meaning. “I admire how each Blade had to endure the discrimination given to them from their blood, but that never stopped them from doing what was right.” He pauses before continuing, “Solitude was what the organization thrived on before allying themselves to Voltron. It’s what kept them alive.”

 

He chuckles before adding, “I also added white heathers because they symbolize protection and wishes coming true. You did what you could to protect the innocence in the shadows and I will do everything in my power to make your wishes come true.”

 

He moves onto the next flower his eyes land on, “Aster, it was named for looking like a star and I thought it was perfect. It also has multiple meanings, so I got purple for wisdom that many of you bestowed upon me during my time with you guys. Red for your undying devotion in completing every mission successfully. Pink for love because you were the second family I found.”

 

Keith’s eyes began to get a little misty. He worked so hard to find the right meaning for the Blades, they were a second family that he never thought he would have. He wanted to show them his respect and continue to honor them by carrying on their life mission. To stop the Empire.

 

His eyes land on the last flowers that he picked. They meant the most to him, even more than the others. “Lastly, gladiolus flowers,” his voice nothing but a whisper now. “It symbolizes faithfulness, the strength of character, and honor.”

 

A soft laugh escapes his lips, as he tenderly looks down at the two bouquets. “Faithful to the greater good. Meeting each and every one of you, I only saw a war-torn soul who continued to stay kind and good. But, most importantly, all of you were honorable to your cause, your past culture, and to yourself. None of you ever broke down.”

He could stop here, but there was more he wanted to say. None of them deserved to die, they should still be alive to see that their hard work was paying off. 

 

A gust of wind passes him causing him to brush his bangs out of his face. “It really feels like all of you are here right now. I better start introductions, shouldn’t I?” he teases.

 

With those being said, Keith began to tell his dad about each Blade he met that has fallen. “The first Blade was Ulaz, he had saved Shiro and then saved us. If it wasn’t for him, we may have never been able to find and form Voltron. I wish I was able to learn more about him.”   
  
He remembered how Ulaz didn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself for them, for people he didn’t know. He had so many questions to ask him but was unable to.

 

“Thace was the second Blade that I watched fall,” Keith said, painfully. He could remember the words he said to the Galra.

 

_ “It was an honor to meet you.” _

 

Keith rubs his eyes, having felt them get more watery. He takes a deep breath before continuing, “I had hoped that he would make it through the blast, but he didn’t. I…” his hands turned into fists on his lap, trying to control his breathing. “I was still glad to have met him, even if it wasn’t under the best circumstances.”

 

When Thace had stumbled in the room with injuries, Keith had been surprised that he was still able to make it with his conditions. But, it didn’t seem to hinder the Galran and that had spurred Keith into doing his best every time he fought the Empire.

 

“The third was Regris, he reminded me a lot of Pidge,” Keith chuckled, a fond smile on his face. “We worked on a few missions together and he taught me a few tech skills.” 

 

He remembered how Regris tried to stop the explosion and it was his own fault the Blade had that kind of thought. It had placed a bitter seed in himself, a blame that would never go away.

 

“Antok was Kolivan’s right-hand man. I didn’t spend a lot with him because of his duties but he would meet with me in the training deck.” Keith felt warm thinking of the really tall Galran. He remembered how some of their sparrings turned into playful fights and the two would end up laughing. 

 

When Kolivan told him about Antok’s death, Keith felt despair at another loss. The many Blades they lost at Naxzela and Antok was one. He remembered how he wished that he was stronger, that Voltron was stronger. Maybe then, they wouldn’t have lost so many.

 

For the next couple of Vargas, Keith continued to introduce his dad to every fallen Blade. He was close to some of them, while others, he had yet to meet. But, that didn’t stop him from remembering each and every one of them.

 

ಥ_ಥ

 

The sun was setting when Keith finally finishes talking about the last Blade. His legs had grown numb from sitting on them, but he never bothered to move. 

 

“I have to go now, the others will worry if I’m not back soon,” He informed the gravestone, but he still made no move to get up. 

 

Instead, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the breeze that passed by often. Talking to his dad about all of the fallen Blades had relieved some of the burdens from his shoulders. It was like they were truly here with him, watching over him. A tear fell down from his left eye from all of the emotions that warred inside him.

 

Without warning, he bows down until his forehead was touching the ground. “I promise to all of you that we will do everything we can to stop the Empire. We will start a new era of peace, one where all of you could look at with proudness,” he declared passionately. 

  
A promise to the fallen, a goal to the living. But, most of all, a fire that burned brightly.

 

“Keith, what are you doing?”

 

The half-Galran flinched and looked up, startled. “Uh…” He looked at Krolia blankly.

 

A small smile spread on her face, as she crouched down in front of him. Her hand went up to rub off the dirt from his forehead. “The others told me you will be here. Paying respect?” she asked, noting the two bouquets.

 

Keith nodded and added, “To dad and the fallen Blades.”

 

Her gaze was soft with understanding, as she proudly looked down at her precious son. “Of course. But, they wouldn’t want you to be out here all night.”

 

Sighing, Keith nodded his head and tried to stand up, but forgot that his legs were numb. “Oof-”

 

Krolia quickly caught him and laughed lightly at her son. “Get on my back, kit.”

 

Keith pouted but did as told, feeling himself relax as she began to walk away. He felt so exhausted, even though he barely did anything today.

 

“Sleep, we’ll be home soon,” he heard his mom whisper and no sooner, he did.

 

ಥ_ಥ

 

Behind them, a shimmer appears behind his dad’s gravestone. It looked like the forms of his dad and the fallen Blades. Proudness emitting from their translucent forms, as they stared at the sleeping form. They will treasure him and watch as he succeeds.

 

This person, who carried many burdens, but never let them weigh him down was their legacy. A legacy, who they were all proud to have known and nurtured.

 


End file.
